By Lilik C Trirahayu | School Principal
Dear friends and kind supporters of Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara Foundation,
Warmest holiday greetings! We are writing during a relatively tranquil break as the 2024-2025 academic year has just ended and we still have ten days to go before opening the school doors with a warm welcome to our beloved children – including a good group of newcomers who will be starting their school life with us.
The last few months of term saw a flurry of activity leading up to a wonderful Year-End Celebration, and our third graduation, in late June. We wanted to do something special and conversations with members of the local Indonesian heritage management team resulted in us holding the event in the grounds of Ratu Boko Palace, now a beautiful archaeological site with a history and both Buddhist and Hindu elements dating back well over a thousand years. With the backdrop of a charming stone gateway and other ancient structures the celebration was also a picnic and garden party with delightful dances and songs by our students. A highlight was the drama performance that brought to life the long history of this tranquil and beautiful site, named after the legendary King Boko. This made it not just fun but also an educational moment and tangible expression of our wish to support children, and their parents, in learning about the rich cultural heritage of the area.
We were blessed with good weather and teachers and other colleagues worked tirelessly together to do a magnificent job in arranging food and drinks for about 300 of us as we sat on the grass terrace being entertained by the children’s performances. There was joy in the air and a feeling of accomplishment for the twelve students who graduated and this dispelled any sadness at them leaving us as they move on to the next leg of their educational journey. Parents were also very much involved and supported us throughout, participating in the plans and preparation and thoughtfully creating lovely costumes and props for performances, helping to make it the unique and memorable occasion that it was
Equally important in successfully completing the year, we have also been busy with Parents’ Group Discussions, Student Progress Reports and evaluations as well as preparation for our new students, who will join us in mid-July and bring the total student numbers to around 130. Meanwhile, we’ve continued to welcome visitors and friends from schools, universities and foundations who come to learn from our lead teachers and Bridge Academy team about Montessori Apparatus practice and how to apply the Montessori approach, and use Montessori apparatus, in a pre-school setting.
As well as sharing our experiences and insights with other educators and institutions, we also ran teaching training sessions for our own teachers to support them in their on-going professional development. One such event was a full-day workshop on Living Values Education, which helped teachers deepen their skills at keeping values at the centre of their practice and students’ learning while another was a session on Montessori Beyond the Academic by Montessori Haus Asia.
We greatly appreciate your partnership in our work and, as we do depend on donors to help make this possible, would be most grateful for your continuing support. In that regard, later this month GlobalGiving is running its July Bonus Day. Donations of $100 or more will be matched during the campaign, which runs for 24 hours starting at 14.00 GMT on Wednesday 16 July. In addition to matching funds, your donation will help get us closer to unlocking an additional bonus prize of up to US$1,200. Donations may be made at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/loving-pre-school-education-in-java-indonesia/. We’d be most grateful for your support – and if you could pass the message on to friends!
Finally, if you are in the Yogyakarta area, do please let us know as we would warmly welcome your visit and the chance to show you what you have helped make possible. In the meantime, thank you very much again for your support and joining us in our endeavours.
With much gratitude and warmest wishes from all of us at Yayasan Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara.
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